Africa Up Close

Weekly French Translation

In electing Edie Mukiibi its Vice President, the Italian eco-gastronomic organization Slow Food International is demonstrating its commitment to Africa. The young Ugandan agronomist, age 28, will largely be responsible for creating new gardens on the continent.

En élisant Edie Mukiibi à sa vice-présidence, l’organisation écolo-gastronomique italienne Slow Food International marque son engagement en Afrique. Le jeune agronome ougandais de 28 ans sera notamment chargé de créer de nouveaux jardins potagers sur le continent.

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

The appointment was given in one of the few places in the Ugandan capital dedicated to coffee. “To real coffee,” said Edie Mukiibi. “This is the first coffee facility in Kampala to propose a local product, roasted and ground on site,” says the young man who declared war on soluble coffee crowding Ugandan tables. “These are beans that were grown here and sent to Europe to be processed. They return to Africa significantly more expensive and of lower quality.  This is the last straw for major producer countries.”

Build on the local. The young agronomist was already applying one of the key principles of Slow Food before becoming familiar with the organization. While he was still a student, he used his passion for agriculture to regularly advise farmers to favor local species, to limit the use of fertilizers, and especially to reconnect with traditional farming practices. “If we take a typical African farm, we will find fruit trees, vegetables, tubers … It is through this model that, for centuries, Uganda has never experienced famine.”

Uganda is praised for its agricultural variety at a time when monocultures of sugar cane and palm oil pervade the continent in the name of economic development. “In the west of the country, farmers have aggressively planted corn. However, there has recently been a large drought and the plants did not survive. Westerners say Africa requires more food, but it is diversity that is needed.”

“Defending our biodiversity and our food independence”

The young agronomist crossed paths with Slow Food in 2008, when the organization was implementing Terra Madre, its network of farmers in Africa. “We speak the same language!” exclaimed the scientist. So, Edie took the lead of a Ugandan branch of the organization and designed gardening workshops in schools located in rural areas, a challenge in a country where agriculture is devalued.

“At school, gardening is a punishment. Students who arrive late must tend to the garden of the teacher. It sends young people a negative view of agriculture, when in reality, it can provide so much,” stresses Edie, who financed his studies by selling products from his family’s farm.

Last February, Slow Food welcomed its new Vice President and entrusted him with the reins of its newest project: growing gardens on the continent. Thousands of vegetable gardens, consisting solely of local varieties and grown by rural or urban communities, have emerged.  Edie’s objective is now to multiply this number by ten. “This is a challenge that needs to be addressed now,” Edie insists. “When the time comes that McDonald’s and KFC come to settle in Africa, we must defend our biodiversity and our food independence. We are capable of feeding our own continent!”

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Africa Program at the Wilson Center.

Photo courtesy of Tigeris Lagoona via Wikimedia Commons.